5 Questions w/ Richard Crouse

Award season has kicked into high gear and the momentum is leading us to roll out the red carpet at Drake Commissary for Oscars 2018. On March 4, we are celebrating everyone’s favourite award show with television host and film critic Richard Crouse. The Oscar Party at the Commissary is an interactive experience with guests using the Oscar Poll on their mobile devices hoping their predictions pull-through.

We talked with Richard Crouse about Oscars 2018 and his predictions - be sure to take notes!

What are your Oscar predictions for some of the major categories this year? Which films or nominees are the ones on your radar?
Predicting winners is pretty easy. There are the signifiers of Oscar success. Who won the SAG Award? What movie scored big at the Producer’s Guild? You have a look at all that and make educated guesses as to which way the Academy winds are blowing. This is one of the rare years that the cold hard facts and my heart line up. Looks like my favourite movie of the year, The Shape of Water, will take Best Picture. In the Best Actress category everyone except Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,’s Frances McDormand might as well stay home. Darkest Hour’s Gary Oldman looks like a lock for Best Actor and, fingers crossed, Guillermo del Toro may get an Oscar to pair with his recent Golden Globe for directing.

Late night-talk show host Jimmy Kimmel is back hosting this year. From one experienced host to another, how do you think Jimmy does?
Kimmel is great. He’s not only funny but nervy and sharp as well. Unless you’re Billy Crystal, hosting the Oscars is a thankless gig. Just ask Seth McFarlane, Neil Patrick Harris or Hugh Jackman. Kimmel has something different. This year brings with it the added challenge of handling #MeToo with grace and possibly even a bit of humour. It will be a fine line but Kimmel is fearless and unflappable. Really interested to see what he does with the opening monologue.

Do you think the annual Golden Globes that happened in early January are an indication about who takes home the Oscar statue?
At best the Globes point the way. By the numbers they have an almost 90 percent accuracy rating for predicting the acting awards, but their picks for picture are only 50 percent correct while they only get the director winner right 40 percent of the time. Timing wise they fall at the beginning of award season when many people are thinking about how they’ll fill out their ballots but it should be noted that no one from the Hollywood Foreign Press votes at the Oscars.

This year’s award season has seen a number of powerful statements surrounding the Time's Up and Me Too movements, especially from Hollywood women. Any predictions on how the movements will affect The Oscar ceremony?
I think we have already seen some of the ways the Academy will react to #MeToo and #TimesUp. James Franco, once a frontrunner for a Best Actor nod was left off the list. Casey Affleck, who was accused of sexual harassment by two women who worked with him on the film I'm Still Here, won Best Actor last year but will not be back to present the Best Actress award. This year we are also seeing more women recognized with nominations. Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig became only the fifth woman to be nominated Best Director in the Academy’s history and Rachel Morrison, Mudbound’s director of photography, became the first woman nominated by the Academy for best cinematography, a category that has been dominated by men over the last 89 ceremonies. Women were also nominated in other, usually male-dominated categories, like original screenplay and animated feature.

Many of the films are still on the silver screen; if there is one film to see before the Oscar Party at Drake Commissary which one would it be?The Shape of Water. It is the kind of movie that made me fall in love with movies in the first place.

Join us on MAR 4 @ Drake Commissary for a trophy worthy prix-fixe and a viewing of everyone's favourite awards ceremony hosted by Richard Crouse. To book your spot, call 416.432.2922 or email host@drakecommissary.ca.